What Draws People to Ballet

Make it Sparkle Video with Michael Pappalardo
Ballet Artistic Director

6:17 (runtime)

Director’s Notes

In this segment, Michael discusses

• How Ballet defies reality.

• Why people like being taken out of their comfort zones.

• How Ballet has become more diverse and more available to everyone.

• How Ballet has grown and evolved to engage a more modern audience.

About Michael Pappalardo

Michael began his dance training at the age of 6 and was accepted into the New Zealand School of Dance. He worked with the Royal New Zealand Ballet during his time in New Zealand and was privileged to perform in works by Val Caniparoli, Jiri Kylian, Frederick Ashton, Stanton Welch, and George Balanchine. After returning to Australia, Michael worked with Queensland Ballet before launching himself into a very successful independent Dancer career working with Leigh Warren and Dancers, Melbourne Ballet Company, Victoria State Ballet, Opera Victoria, and various independent projects. Michael’s love for creating ballets came to the forefront when he was appointed Artistic Director of Melbourne City Ballet in 2013. There he guided the organization to become Australia’s largest classical touring company, performing over 100 shows across Australia, New Zealand, and Japan annually. In 2016, Michael was also invited to work as co-director with Niconomiel dance company in Osaka, Japan. In 2020 Michael joined San Jose Dance Theatre as Artistic Associate and choreographed Dido and Aeneus for Opera San Jose in 2021. In 2022 Michael was appointed Artistic Director of Canyon Concert Ballet in Fort Collins, Colorado.